


Christmas Tree Hunting

by aMantaRay



Series: Christmas is Coming [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Coffee, Comfort, Cute, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Not really hurt, Tea, Thranto, mainly just comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26643136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aMantaRay/pseuds/aMantaRay
Summary: Eli and Thrawn are hunting for a Christmas Tree to place inside the Mitth Estate. Thrass, of course, gave very specific guidelines.
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto
Series: Christmas is Coming [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938811
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Christmas Tree Hunting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! I wrote a cute winter time Thranto fic... :)
> 
> All of the Cheunh translations are in the end notes
> 
> Enjoy...

_“Bun ch’ican,”_ the Chiss greeted softly, dipping his head to the passing Chiss couple. He was standing a little impatiently outside of the square where they’d decided to meet, waiting for his partner...his _ch'acah_. He let out a slow sigh, fixing the coat around his frame. 

“I’m here. Sorry, I’m here,” Eli grinned, holding two disposable coffee mugs in his hands as he hurried down the steps. “I come bearing gifts though. Tea for you and coffee for me. It was just a long line. Cold this morning, y’know?”

Thrawn watched him quietly, a smile threatening to slip through his stoic features. _“Ch’itksoo ch’acacah seo. Hm, Ch’eo Ch’acah?”_ He took his mug carefully, wrapping both hands around the cup to feel the warmth of the liquid inside as he brought his head down to settle a kiss against his cheek. “Thank you. You are right. It is a lower temperature this morning.”

“Like always, Darlin’? That’s a little harsh,” Eli hummed, sipping at his own drink, making a face when he burned his tongue. “You’re welcome.” He bumped his shoulder teasingly before heading down the sidewalk. “C’mon. The Christmas tree isn’t going to choose itself. Can’t be _too_ late now. Especially to a farm that’s a come and go as you please farm.” He smirked over his shoulder at the Chiss, but didn’t stop walking.

The Chiss shook his head fondly, following behind the man, jogging a few steps to keep up with him. “My brother made it clear that the tree must not be smaller than twenty five feet.”

Eli nodded. “I spoke to him yesterday. I think we can take our time. I’m not really in a hurry to get his approval on the tree we pick.”

He glanced at him curiously at that, taking a sip of his tea. “My brother actually spoke to you? In Sy Bisti? He was kind to you?”

The human hunched his shoulders from the gust of wind. “Kind? I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use to describe the situation,” he chuckled. It was actually unfair that the Chiss were so used to the cold, and he was just stuck to freeze most of the year. “Cheunh, actually. I only struggled a little. I think he’s warming up to me.” His brow furrowed. “He did call me a... _bircisb_...for interfering with Mitth house affairs.” 

Thrawn wrapped his arm around him, tucking him into his side to help keep him warm, turning his head away to hide his scowl. “I see. I apologize for my brother’s actions.” He tapped his finger against his cup, lifting it to his lips to take a sip. As close as he and Thrass were, he couldn’t seem to get his brother to accept the idea of allowing a human into the house of Mitth. Eli was a visitor to him. Nothing more. “He called you a bastard.” His voice was soft.

“It’s alright,” he murmured, leaning against him as they headed into the Christmas tree farm, features softening at the sight and the smell. “Really, I mean, I haven’t been here too long. Just have to give him time. Besides, I knew the name was an insult, I just didn’t know exactly what it meant,” Eli chuckled again. “I’ve been called worse.”

“Time...yes…,” he trailed off thoughtfully, crimson gaze traveling over a particular tree Eli had stopped in front of. 

Eli sipped at his coffee, tilting his head. “...I don’t like this one,” he concluded, nose wrinkling. “It’s too skinny,” he slipped out from beneath his arm, wandering toward another tree. “Too short...too tall...too many holes…” The human continued down the row, Thrawn keeping up behind him. 

“Your eye is very particular,” Thrawn observed, having no specific opinion on the chosen tree they’d bring home. He was happy to let Eli make the decision.

“I have to be.” He turned back to wait for him to come closer. “If we bring home a tree, and there’s something not quite right with it…” he shook his head. “No good.” 

His eyes grew wide as he caught sight of a large pine tree behind the Chiss. “Wait, Darlin’, look!” 

Thrawn chuckled as he started past him, abandoning the conversation. He watched the human circle the tree, eyes traveling up and down, covering every inch of every branch. “This one is nice,” he commented, settling his hands comfortably behind his back, free hand holding onto his wrist. His head tilted, watching Eli with fondness rather than studying the tree.

Eli bit his lip while he focused, reaching out to touch the pine needles. “It is nice,” he agreed, before he sighed, picking up the tag. “No, it’s too short. Only twenty three feet.” 

“Ah, Thrass’ requirement,” Thrawn nodded in understanding. Thrass wanted the tree in the main room back at the estate. “Have you done something like this before?” This was Eli’s first Christmas with the Chiss.

“What? Went searching for a Christmas tree?” Eli tossed his empty mug in the trash once they started up the main dirt path again, Thrawn doing the same. “Course I have. I mean, not since I joined the imperial navy. But, when I was growing up, my ma, my dad and I would all go together back on Lysatra.” He fell into step beside the Chiss, pushing his hands into his pockets. 

“My Ma, she would be so stressed about the day,” he smiled slightly as he remembered. “We’d be woken up bright and early, my dad and I, I mean. The sun would barely be rising. She would hurry us through breakfast and getting us ready before we’d end up in our speeder and heading out toward the farms. Then, we’d spend _hours_ looking at all the trees.”

Thrawn threaded his arm through Eli’s before tucking his own hands into his pockets. “Hours?” he asked a bit skeptically. 

Eli nodded solemnly. “Hours. I kid you not.” He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I mean, it wasn’t ever a bad time or anything like that. Ma just had to find the perfect tree is all. She’d pretend to let me and my dad pick one out, but really, she had veto power. If she didn’t like it, we didn’t get it, so we usually just let Ma pick whatever she wanted, and then we’d act like we chose it too.” 

His smile softened further. “To be fair, she did always choose a beautiful tree.” He leaned into the Chiss as they continued to wander through the rows. “I suppose ours weren’t exactly twenty-five feet tall. Maybe more like...ah...six feet. It needed to fit inside after all.”

“That sounds very pleasant,” Thrawn met his gaze, a small smile on his own lips. “Do you miss it?”

“...Yeah, a little,” Eli spoke thoughtfully, looking from his eyes to the ground as he stepped a bit closer into his warmth. “But, honestly, I’m happy. I am. Getting to be here with you and share this sort of experience with you, it’s all I could ask for.”

Thrawn nodded. “This makes me very happy.”

There was a comfortable silence before Eli spoke again. “What about you? Did you do this as a kid?”

If Thrawn was caught off guard by the question, he didn’t show it. He knew the human was constantly curious, and he also knew that opening up about his past wasn’t an obvious part of his skill set. “Not exactly, no.”

Eli glanced up at the Chiss, quietly pulling his arm away, only to tuck his hand into Thrawn’s coat pocket to take his hand in his own. He wouldn’t push the subject, knowing he’d speak about it if he wanted to. Regardless, Eli would be there for him. He threaded their fingers together, giving his hand a squeeze. I love you. I’m here. Always. 

“...Thrass and I were on our own for a while,” Thrawn said after a moment, his voice soft, calculating eyes traveling over the couples searching for their own Christmas trees. “He has always been a good big brother to me, always looked out for me. He still does.

“When we were children, he spent much time trying to make me feel like we had a home, a family.” He tightened his hand around Eli’s. “He did not have to try so hard. Thrass was my home, and he was my family. Is my family,” he corrected himself, “as stubborn as he is.

“Regardless,” the small smile was back, fondness for his brother showing clearly, “we worked where we could, saved what we could, and each Christmas we would share a warm meal near the lake by my old home. The night was always clear and the lake always reflected the stars. He promised us a better life someday.

“I have always...been on the wrong side of most authority figures. Which, you already know and have witnessed, of course.” He stopped in front of a large tree, admiring it. “After joining the academy, my achievements did grasp the attention of the Mitth family, but without Thrass and his political intelligence, I never would have been adopted as well. He did give us a better future. I suppose that is partially why Thrass enjoys a lavish and decorated Christmas now.”

Thrawn motioned up at the tree with his free hand. “What do you think of this one?” 

The subject change was obvious to Eli. “Sometimes lavish and decorated is fun,” he chuckled softly, but said nothing else about the matter. “Come on. Have to walk around it,” he smirked, tugging on his hand to get him moving, determined to lighten the mood again. “Height first? It meets Thrass’ standards?” 

Thrawn nodded, spotting the tag. “Twenty seven feet tall.”

“Good.” His eyes narrowed as he studied the branches. “It’s a good poofiness…” he murmured, continuing to drag Thrawn around the tree. “I like it. There’s no bald spots and the branches look thick, so we’ll have plenty of support for the ornaments.”

“Poofiness?” His brow furrowed. “Explain.”

Eli giggled, stepping back to view the tree more fully. “See? Wide. It’s poofy.” He held his hands out and followed the shape of the tree in the air. “...Do you like this one?”

Thrawn watched the tree for a moment before his gaze found Eli and his eyes softened. “I do.”

“Okay,” Eli leaned against Thrawn, wrapping his arm comfortably around his waist, watching as the Chiss waved over a few workers, speaking softly but firmly to them in Cheunh. They would cut down the tree and transport it to the Mitth Estate for them. 

The Chiss settled his arm around Eli, starting up the path with him again. “Ready to brave the Mitth Estate?” 

“No,” Eli chuckled, settling his head against the man’s for a moment. 

“I will fend off my brother. You will be fine.” He smiled softly, leaving the farm behind them. “He will see that you are more than just a guest to me.”

That meant the world to him. “I know you will,” he whispered, dark eyes brightening as the snow started to fall. “Thank you.”

Thrawn chuckled, pressing a firm kiss to his temple. “You are welcome, _Ch’eo_. I love you.”

His eyes slid shut as the warmth flooded through him, cheeks even rosier than before. “I love you too, Darlin’.”

**Author's Note:**

> Bun ch’ican - good morning  
> Ch'acah - love  
> Ch’itksoo ch’acacah seo. Hm, Ch’eo Ch'acah? - Late like always. Hm, My Love?  
> Bircisb - bastard  
> Ch’eo - Mine


End file.
